


By The Morning Light

by dabmaster420



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: M/M, Post-Canon, Sexual Content, other background pairings, this is just sokka being stupid in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:01:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24895819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dabmaster420/pseuds/dabmaster420
Summary: Sokka loved his husband. He really, truly did - he loved his strength, and his kindness, his bravery, his pure heart. He loved his sweet awkwardness, his dorky sense of humour, his hot temper, his shy displays of affection. He was so stupidly gone for him that frankly, it was embarrassing.What he didn’t love about his husband though, was that he was a morning person.-Zuko is a morning person. Sokka isn't. They make it work anyway.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 26
Kudos: 726





	By The Morning Light

**Author's Note:**

> i would like to thank alcohol for making this work possible, couldn't have done it without you. 
> 
> this atla renaissance going on rn reminded me of how much i love these two idiots - thus, i had to write a dumb fic about them. 
> 
> not beta'd so apologies for any mistakes!

Sokka loved his husband. He really, truly did - he loved his strength, and his kindness, his bravery, his pure heart. He loved his sweet awkwardness, his dorky sense of humour, his hot temper, his shy displays of affection. He was so stupidly gone for him that frankly, it was embarrassing. 

What he didn’t love about his husband though, was that he was a morning person. 

Sokka, decidedly, wasn't. He may not have been a waterbender, but he was still of the water tribe, and he felt the energy of the moon and it was at night that he felt most energetic, most alive. 

Zuko was the opposite. The minute the sun peeked over the horizon, he was awake, and the minute it went down, he was more subdued, calmer. 

He first truly noticed it after they stopped being just friends. It took a few good years of pining, a nice few months of dancing around each other like swans and one night of hard drinking before they had finally given slurred emotional confessions and smashed their faces together, but they’d gotten there eventually.

Sokka had known, passively, that Zuko was an early riser. Sure it had been annoying, when he had woken near noon and went in search of him to have breakfast together - only to find Zuko eating lunch at lunchtime, which - just no, Sokka refused to eat lunch food before breakfast. So that was irritating. But the morning after their drunken declarations of love, with a throbbing head and no Zuko was the first time it had ever actually made him freak out. 

Judging by the sun - it was midday or just a little after - and the side of the bed where Zuko had passed out next to him was cold. Sokka buried his head in his hands and groaned. 

Well, he blew it. Zuko has obviously woken up, sober and clear-minded, and realised that he had made a huge mistake. After all, Sokka was the one to confess first - in his drunkenness, Zuko must have just said it back out of awkwardness, or because he didn’t want to hurt Sokka’s feelings, or because he thought it was more of a friendly ‘I’m completely head over ass in love with you’. Yep, that was it. 

Spirits, Sokka was a fool. Reluctantly, he got out of bed, dressed and cleaned up in the bathroom, heart aching. All he wanted to do was shut the curtain and hide under the blanket, but that seemed too cowardly an action for Sokka's liking. What the hell was he supposed to do now? He still loved him, was still completely gone on Zuko - at least when he had been pining, they were still friends, he could still act like a normal human being around him day in and day out. 

Now the secret was out. Zuko knew and Sokka couldn’t just pretend that everything was fine and they were still just friends. God, would Zuko even want him around anymore? 

There was only one solution; Sokka would have to leave. He would pack his things, give his excuses and high tail it back to the water tribe. He was an ambassador after all - it was plausible that he would be called back home for an emergency. But no; he wouldn’t demean Zuko’s intelligence like that, and he was under no delusion regarding his own lying skills. He’d just have to tell the truth; I’m stupid in love with you, please forgive me, my heart can’t take being around you knowing that you don’t love me back. Alright, bye.

Sokka sighed. He already missed him. Missed his voice, and his laugh and his dumb beautiful face. Not seeing him every day would be torture, but seeing him every day any only seeing pity in his eyes would be worse. 

Securing his sword belt, he pressed a palm to his bedroom door. Better to just do it. Like snapping a broken bone back into place. He turned the handle and opened it. 

The first thing he saw was Zuko. He was standing by the window in the adjoining living room of Sokka's quarters, hand clasped in front of him, the lines of his shoulders rigid. He spun around at the sound of the door opening; eyes wide and hair a mess, still dressed in the clothes from last night. Sokka stared back, completely caught off guard. 

Zuko pushed a hand through his hair and walked forward so quickly Sokka took a step back in surprise. Upon seeing this, Zuko stopped, sadness crossing his face. Sokka just kept staring, too stunned to process what was happening. Zuko was there. In his quarters. 

He pinched himself. Nope, not dreaming. 

Oh, wait, Zuko was talking. 

“-so sorry,” Sokka caught, coming out of his daze. “I don’t know what I was thinking, we were drunk, I shouldn’t have said something like that when you were vulnerable, I just couldn’t keep it in anymore,” 

Zuko pushed his hair back again, where it promptly fell back into his face. Sokka's hand twitched, desperate to touch the silky locks himself.

“And that was wrong of me. But I can’t lie. You’ll know anyway if I do. So I have to tell you the truth,” Zuko swallowed hard, eyes flitting around randomly before landing on Sokka’s. He inhaled and straightened his spine, taking a decisive step forward.

“I love you. I’m _in love_ with you. I have been for years. And I understand if you don’t - if you don’t feel the same way and I understand if you want to leave, or if you never want to see me again. That’s ok, just please know that-

Zuko didn’t get to finish because Sokka launched forward and kissed him. For a brief second, he was frozen like a stone, before he melted and kissed Sokka back, those warm, strong arms circling around him. 

Sokka thought again, that maybe he was dreaming. But this time, he was sure he wasn't. Dreams couldn’t ever compare to this.

After a minute, or hours, or perhaps a lifetime, they pulled back. 

Zuko looked dazed, until his brow crinkled and a worried look crossed his face. His hands came up to stroke along Sokka’s face, where he suddenly felt wetness. He hasn’t even realised tears had started to flow down his face

“Why are you crying?” He asked, with a hint of panic. “What’s it that bad?”

Sokka couldn’t help but laugh. It started as a hiccup, then turned to a chuckle, then a full-blown belly laugh. 

Zuko, the poor thing, looked as confused as ever.

“No,” Sokka said between gulps of air, and then found his face suddenly crumbling, sobs taking over for the laughs. Zuko's confusion changed to being stricken. 

“No, no!” Sokka held his hands up, trying to calm him. “I’m happy! I’m crying because I’m happy!” He said through sobs. 

“You’re...happy?” Zuko asked tentatively.

Sokka wiped a hand over his face, hoping that all the snot and tears wouldn’t make Zuko suddenly change his mind.

“I’m so happy,” he confirmed, grinning so wide it hurt. “I love you so much,”

Zuko’s eyes widened, and then to Sokka’s surprise, also started to fill with tears. 

“Oh no, oh spirits, please don’t cry-“ 

“You love me?” Zuko asked, sniffing, tears spilling over onto his cheeks.

“Yes! Yes I love you!” Sokka nearly yelled. They stood, both sobbing in Sokka’s living room. 

Sokka leaned forward and Zuko met him halfway. The kiss was a bit messy and a bit wet, but to Sokka, it was the best damn kiss in the world. 

He pulled back and rested his forehead against Zuko’s.

“I woke up and you weren’t there. I thought-“ 

“I woke up at dawn. I was so nervous I had to come out here and pace,”

Sokka pulled back, ran a thumb across Zuko’s cheek. 

“You’ve been out here since dawn?” He asked.

“Yeah. I couldn’t sleep,” 

“Not even when you’re hungover?” Sokka said, smoothing a hand through Zuko’s messy hair. 

Zuko shook his head, wiping his nose ungracefully. God, Sokka loved him so much. 

“Wait…” Sokka said. “I’m pretty sure I confessed first. Why were you worried?” 

“I don’t know…” Zuko replied, looking bashful. “I thought maybe you had just been joking, or meant it at a friend and then I had taken it seriously...I just couldn't believe that you could actually love me back,”

“Oh Zuko,” Sokka sighed, taking his face in his hands. “You dummy. I love you. Let me show you how much?”

Zuko fought a smile, biting his lip, before he let it stretch over his face. The sight was almost too much. Sokka could hear his own heartbeat in his ears. 

“Ok. Show me,” 

Sokka did just that. 

  
  


-

When Sokka had planned their honeymoon, he had planned it with their mornings free, for the express purpose of not rising before at least ten. And if they did rise before then, it was for sex and sex only. 

So when Sokka woke up in the late morning on the first day to find his husband - his _husband!_ Zuko was his _husband_! - noticeably absent from the other side of the bed, he was not exactly happy. 

He whined, flinging his hand out to the empty spot sadly. It may have been pathetic, but dammit, it was his honeymoon and he wanted to cuddle with his husband.

“Zuko!” He yelled, hoping that he was nearby, or maybe in the bathroom but he listened for a moment and heard no response. No such luck. 

By now, Sokka was intimately familiar with Zuko’s body clock - the man woke up at dawn rain or shine, but that was in their normal life. He had been hoping that after the insanity that was their wedding, and months of stressful planning would have been enough for him to sleep past the rising of the sun. They had even been awake to the early hours of the morning - Sokka had done his damn best to fuck Zuko into a coma, and frankly, it was a little offensive that he wasn’t still passed out next to him.

Well, that just wouldn’t do. 

“Stupid firebender, Fire Lord, getting up at disguising hours…” he muttered to himself as he got out of bed, stopping by the washbasin to sponge off some of the lingering sweat from last night. Then he pulled on a pair of light silk trousers, in the usual Fire Nation crimson (his _husband's_ colours, his _HUSBAND’S_!) and padded out of their room into the hallway. 

Lucky for Sokka, Ember Island wasn’t large and there were only so many places Zuko could have gone unless Druk had suddenly grown large enough for him to fly off on.

They weren’t in the same old house they had stayed in when they were there before Sozin’s Comet; Zuko had given Sokka permission to have it torn down, and then Sokka had planned and overseen the building of a new house, smaller and cozier. 

Sokka loved Ember Island - he loved the beach and the little houses, the crappy plays and the food markets. Zuko was more ambivalent about the place - but Sokka was determined to give him good memories, new memories for him to look back on fondly to forget the bad. He knew, deep down, Zuko loved the island - it was a place of happiness in his childhood, somewhere he had been with his mother - Sokka wanted him to have that again, have it be a place of goodness. 

The new house had been a start. Now he had the rest of their honeymoon to help Zuko fall in love with it all over again. 

Zuko wasn’t in the rest of the house, but when Sokka walked outside, he heard the telltale sounds of firebending. He followed the noise out to the courtyard and past it to the garden - where he’d had a small pond made for Zuko, complete with turtleducks. 

Nearby on the grass, his husband was going through his bending forms. Sokka quietened his steps and sat on a tucked-away stone bench, watching.

He would never get over how beautiful Zuko was; the ripple of his muscle under pale skin as he worked, the swish of his silken hair falling down his back like a waterfall. The power and strength, the fact that he could reduce the whole house to ash in one sweep if he wanted to. It made a shiver go down Sokka’s back and his dick start to harden. 

If he told his younger self that one day he’d actually find firebending sexy, he’d probably get told to go fuck off. 

But there was no denying the way Zuko effortlessly affected Sokka; it would be a little embarrassing, getting turned on so easily if Zuko wasn’t just as affected by him. 

He watched as Zuko finished his routine, a final blast of fire flowing from his feet as he landed on the ground, breathing hard. He stood and turned, finally seeing Sokka on his perch. 

“Good morning, my love,” he said, grinning. Sokka couldn’t help but smile back.

“Good morning, my husband,” he replied, almost feeling dizzy from the words. His _husband._ He wanted to climb to the highest peak of Ember Island and shout it to the world, but he knew Zuko absolutely would kill him if he did that. Would be a good way to go, at least. 

“Like what you see?” Zuko said, drawing his hair over his shoulder, exposing his neck and the betrothal necklace that rested on it in a way that he knew Sokka particularly went crazy for. He eyed Sokka’s crotch purposefully.

Sokka leaned back on his elbows, widening his knees to give a better view. He palmed his erection casually.

“Maybe,” he said, licking his palm and sneaking his hand under his waistband to stroke himself. To his satisfaction, Zuko’s breath hitched and his eyes widened. “You know, it was very rude to leave me in bed. I was lonely,”

“Oh?” asked Zuko, clearly trying to appear casual. 

Sokka grinned wickedly, and pulled down his trousers with his spare hand, freeing his cock. He put on a show of going nice and slow, closing his eyes and moaning, twisting his hand on the upstroke. 

Fuck,” he cursed, feeling Zuko’s gaze on him, hot heavy. “If you’re going to leave me like that, then I guess I’ll just have to do this myself-“

He didn’t get to finish because Zuko was suddenly there in front of him, on his knees, taking Sokka down to the base. He cried out, fisting Zuko’s hand in his hand, minding not to buck his hips up. 

Zuko pulled up, licking his lips and looking at Sokka.

“Babe - fuck, you’re so hot, don’t know what you do to me-“ needing to kiss him, he leaned forward and pressed their mouths together hard. 

“How about this?” said Zuko, taking Sokka’s dick in his hand and stroking firm, just the way he knew Sokka liked it. “I’ll stay in bed with you in the mornings, and you don’t do this-“ he gave a particular firm tug to emphasise his point. “Without me. Ok?”

“Darling,” Sokka said, leaning back on his elbows. “You got yourself a deal,”

-

He whined to Katara about it. They were in the South Pole; they had all gathered, a rare occurrence, for the occasion of Katara giving birth. 

Even Toph had come down, though she complained often, and loudly, about the cold and not being on solid earth. Sokka hadn't realised how much he had missed her. 

Katara actually cried when Suki's boat docked and then finally, there they all were, back together again. At least she had the excuse of being heavily pregnant - Sokka had to wipe surreptitiously at his eyes, while Zuko fondly rubbed at his back - but it was nothing compared to when Bumi was actually born. 

He was born in the middle of a blizzard because of course he was- the child of the Avatar and the world's greatest waterbender would settle for no less - just a few minutes after midnight. 

The labour was relatively fast, regarding other births, but still, waiting in the birthing hut, listening to his baby sister scream and not being able to help was one of the hardest things he had ever had to do.

He had it easier than Aang at least, who got kicked out halfway through, a sobbing mess. They managed to calm him down and convinced him that Katara was going to be ok before they sent him back in, ready to meet his son.

Sokka forgot sometimes what Aang had lost. It was more than just the nerves of being a first-time father; Aang had confided in him when Katara first announced her pregnancy, his absolute terror that he would lose her and their child. At one point in his life, everyone he had ever known or loved had died - who said the world wouldn’t do it again? 

But thankfully, the world could be kind too - Bumi was born healthy, with all the right bits and pieces and a downy head of hair, screaming his lungs off. And Katara, after shrieking and cursing for hours, when they were finally allowed in to see her and the child, was grinning so wide her eyes were barely open. 

Both her and Aang were crying, the newborn wrapped in furs in his father's arms, so tiny Sokka couldn't believe it was an actual human being.

Aang had pride rolling off on him in waves, looking at Katara as if she were a goddess. It was still weird, sometimes, that his baby sister was married, and now a mother, but Sokka was glad, so happy, that she had found Aang. There wasn’t a man in the world who would love her more, adore her as much. He could recognise the absolute devotion between them because it was the exact same way he felt about Zuko, and he knew Zuko felt about him. 

Sokka was the first person they gave Bumi to; Aang, so, so gently placed the bundle in his arms, looking down at his son as though he would suddenly vanish. 

The baby was scarily light - it felt like he barely weighed anything. In another setting, Sokka might have made some quip about his muscles and strength, but he found that, staring down at his nephew, his tiny little hand wrapped around his forefinger, he couldn’t say anything at all. 

The rest of them crowded around him, looking down at the child - all of them desperately trying not to cry. It was Toph, surprisingly, that broke them. 

Sokka grabbed her hand and brought it up to Bumi, placing it softly beneath the furs, on his chest. 

They waited, watching her eyes widen until a huge smile stretched across her face. 

“I can feel his heartbeat,” she said, and then to all their shock, burst into tears. That set Sokka off, which in turn set Zuko off, and last Suki - until they were all standing around sobbing over the little baby in Sokka’s arms, pressed together in a tight circle, Toph’s hand still feeling his heartbeat. They wept openly, overwhelmed, until Katara had to politely ask for them to hand her son back. 

It was two weeks later when Katara was back on her feet and they had all become used to the new life in their midst that Sokka complained about his wonderful, beautiful husband's annoying morning habits. 

They sat in the hut they grew up in, though it barely looked the same. It had been done up significantly - since the war ended and their father could return home, he had worked to turn their one-room house into a comfortable place for himself and his children, and whoever they bought with them. It took a while both him and Katara to get used to the fact that their father had ended up marrying Bato - not that they didn’t love the man, but waking up in the morning and seeing Bato cuddled up to their dad as they ate breakfast was a little disconcerting, especially as their dad had never given any indication that he was interested in dating after their mother died. 

They got used to it though - brushing their teeth next to Bato in the hut’s washroom could still be a bit weird, but he clearly made their dad happy, and that was all that mattered.

He and Katara were sat at the small table in the corner of the living room - the table was familiar, as it had been a gift from the Fire Nation - Sokka ran his fingers down the stylistic grooves in the wood, noting the craftsmanship - he recognised it as the work of a woodworker in Caldera, a woman that Zuko particular liked and commissioned several pieces from.

Katara was nursing Bumi - in the two weeks since his birth, the child had become the obsession of the entire southern water tribe - on their first walk out, Katara had barely managed to go a few hundred metres without being accosted every other step, and there was a line of visitors every day, coming to greet the latest member of the family, all of them bearing gifts.

The flow of people had finally slowed; there were only so many people in the tribe, and nearly every single one had already visited, some twice. 

He and Katara had taken advantage of the quiet to sit together, chatting and just enjoying being in each other’s company again. At fifteen, Sokka would never have believed that he would actually miss and seek out his sister’s presence, but he found that he missed her like a limb sometimes, dull and persistent.

“Is Aang an early riser?” He asked, taking a sip of his tea. He’d gotten particularly good at brewing it - Iroh had taught Zuko and Zuko had, in turn, taught Sokka - it didn’t taste as good as when his husband made it, but it still tasted better than most. 

During their time travelling the world, Aang had never really seemed to have a specific sleeping habit - he rose without complaint and slept in happily when everyone else did. He hadn’t seemed to mind either way.

Katara shrugged, running her fingers over Bumi’s soft head. 

“Not particularly. He doesn’t mind getting up early, but on our days off he stays in bed with me because he knows I like sleeping in,”

Sokka sighed, leaning his head on his hands. Katara raised a questioning eyebrow. 

“Zuko is such a morning person,” he complained. “I want to cuddle with him, but no! As soon as the sun comes up, off he goes. And he goes to bed early! I mean not super early...but if I make him stay up with me he always falls asleep,”

“Is that a big problem?” Katara asked. 

“I mean,” Sokka said, very aware of how silly it sounded. “I miss him when he’s asleep,”

Katara smiled. 

“Oh spirits, is that pathetic?” Sokka thunked his head on the table. “I mean, he’s my husband, I should be able to handle not seeing him for a few hours,”

“Sokka,” Katara laughed and he raised his head wearily. “It’s not silly at all. It’s because he’s your husband that you miss him. I miss Aang when we spend the day apart. When we see each other at night, I get so giddy, I feel like a teenager again,” 

She reached across the table and flicked his forehead lightly. 

“You’re just in love, idiot. It’s ok to miss him. But sometimes it’s worth it, the missing. Because that just makes seeing them again all the sweeter,”

That night, when he tucked himself into bed next to Zuko, he remembered his sister's words.

“Hey,” he said, loving the way Zuko’s golden eyes blinked up at him sleepily, trusting and open. He gave in to the urge to lean over and drop a kiss to his scarred brow. “I forgive you for being a morning person,”

Zuko smiled, slow and lazy, sliding up to Sokka’s side. They were both naked - mainly because being naked made it easier for them to stay warm together in the freezing cold - but it also had significant other benefits. One of which being that Sokka could feel every inch of Zuko’s silken skin, all hot and smooth, right there for Sokka to devour.

“You forgive me, huh?” Zuko asked, mouthing along Sokka’s neck, giving a playing nip.

“Mhmm,” Sokka breathed. Zuko rolled onto his back, opening his legs to allow Sokka to settle between them and slowly grind their hips together. Zuko tilted his head back against the pillow, sighing in pleasure, and Sokka took advantage to run his mouth down the exposed skin. 

“Well, I’m sure you can find some way of tiring me out so I don’t get up early tomorrow,” Zuko said, a cheeky tone in his voice. Sokka pulled up, biting at his lower lip in retaliation. 

“I might have an idea,” he said, pressing their mouths together in a lazy kiss. When he pulled back, Zuko stretched enticingly, laying one wrist across the other over his head. A satisfied grin stretched over his face when immediately, Sokka reached up and encircled them with his hands, pressing down against the mattress.

“Well,” Zuko said, superficially struggling against Sokka's grip. “Why don’t you get to work?”

Not needing further encouragement, Sokka did just that. 

-

One of the times that Zuko’s rise with the sun philosophy actually became a blessing, was when Izumi came into their lives. Their differing sleep cycles became their biggest advantage - Sokka took to caring for her during the night, soothing her at her waking intervals, unbothered by the late hours. Zuko took over at dawn when she usually fully woke for the day - which Sokka took as a sure hint that she would be a firebender, despite being too young to actually demonstrate any ability - and cared for her until Sokka rose from bed when they shared doting on their baby girl. 

Sokka had no idea he could love something so much - he loved his husband, and his sister and his friends and his father- but this felt like something entirely different, something primal and instinctual. He was almost scared at the intensity of his feelings, but he was comforted by the fact that Zuko felt the same. They would often take to just sitting together and staring at her as she slept, completely enraptured. Sokka finally understood why Katara and Aang had done the same thing with Bumi. He had thought it a bit weird, how they would sometimes just sit there, Bumi in their arms, watching the rise and fall of his chest, but now he got it completely - he and Zuko could do it for hours if they weren’t careful, and if Izumi ever deigned to sleep that long.

He couldn’t believe he got to have that. A perfect husband, a man he so completely and utterly adored, someone he found something new to love about every single day; and now a daughter of their own, to love and raise and protect and build the world for.

In the end, it was Mai who carried her. Sokka liked her enough but had never truly gotten to know her. He had thought Zuko had been crazy when he had suggested Mai as a surrogate, absolutely sure she would use her terrifying knives on them both. 

But when they had sat down, Sokka clutching tightly to Zuko’s hand as he posed the question - she had only laughed and agreed straight up, saying that she had been wondering when they were going to get around to ask her.

That was the beginning of his lifelong friendship with her. 

At first, he couldn’t understand why she would do it. Sure, she was Zuko’s ex-girlfriend, and still a firm companion to him, but that didn’t seem to be a reason to carry a child for him and his husband. 

During one of the first times that they had been alone, when Sokka had accompanied her to a check-up while Zuko had been preoccupied with a meeting, he managed the courage to ask her. 

To his chagrin, she had given him a look like it was supposed to be obvious. 

“Zuko is one of my oldest friends,” she explained. “I love him and would do anything for him. And he would do the same for me,” 

She placed her hand on her slightly swollen stomach. 

“Back when we were kids, I was all but dead. For a long while, I wished that I actually was. Zuko...along with Ty Lee...he helped bring me back to life. I want to return the favour,”

Sokka didn’t know the whole story about what had happened between them all - Zuko still struggled to talk about Azula and his childhood, his time at his father's right hand after Ba Sing Se. He had been making progress though - he had been spending more time with Azula, helping her find herself - spirits, Sokka was proud of him. 

He did know, however, that there was an unbreakable bond there, between Zuko and Mai and Ty Lee; even Azula too, in some odd way. 

“Thank you,” Sokka said to her. “For saying yes. It made him so happy,” 

“And you?” She asked, reaching over to grab one of his hands and then laying it over her stomach. The move shocked Sokka - he couldn’t recall a time that he had ever actually touched her. Being married to Ty Lee had certainly made her more tactile. 

“This is your baby as much as it is his. Does that make you happy too?”

Sokka swallowed back the tightness in his throat, feeling the bump beneath his hand. It was too early for the child to be kicking, but it still made him emotional, knowing there was a life growing in there, a life he would nurture and love.

“Yes,” he said, voice hoarse. “That makes me so happy,”

When he looked up, it was to see Mai smiling.

“I’m glad,” she said, and from then on they were friends. 

When Izumi was born, after a long difficult labour, Mai, pale and sweaty, declared she would never be doing that again. 

Sokka and Zuko agreed.

She and the other children grew up together, close like weeds. It wasn’t an uncommon occurrence in the palace to see Fire Lord Zuko or Ambassador Sokka, or even the Avatar chasing after some toddler, dodging any number of elements.

Izumi, of course, was a firebender. She first displayed her ability when Sokka was burping her and she promptly vomited fire over his shoulder. As soon as she was old enough to understand, Zuko began to teach her - only what she wanted to learn, never once pushing her to be better, go further - and one of Sokka’s favourite thing was to sit in the garden and watch them go through the motions, listening intently as his husband instructed their daughter on the correct stance, on how to feel the flow of fire and life throughout her body. 

At this point in his life, Sokka realised his tragedy; he was now outnumbered two to one by morning people. 

And Zuko, his stupid, annoying, asshole husband, seemed to find it hilarious.

His mornings mostly started like such: He would be sound asleep, and then the only warning he would have was a shrieked ‘Papa!’ before he had a five-year-old launched at his face.

He spluttered out a mouthful of his daughter's hair and looked over the top of her head to glare at Zuko, who didn’t even have the decency to look sorry. 

“Noooo,” he moaned dramatically, bringing the sheets up over his head and hiding beneath them. Izumi quickly made short work of his pathetic defence, pulling them back and exposing her poor father’s eyeballs to the morning light. 

“Papa,” she said, snuggling into his side. Defeated, Sokka sighed and wrapped her in his arms, sitting up in the bed. “Watch what I can do,”

“Remember what I said, Izumi,” Zuko warned, coming to sit on her other side. She nodded, and then cupped her hands in front of her, brow furrowed and tongue sticking out from between her teeth. 

In her palms, she conjured a small flame, bright and warm. As they watched, the flame remained steady, barely flickering, until Izumi lowered her palms and it extinguished.

“Wow! Amazing sweetheart!” Sokka congratulated, dropping a series of kisses onto her head. So far, she hadn’t yet been able to conjure a steady fire, only release brief flames. 

His daughter preened happily, wiggling until she was comfy, yawning and rubbing her eyes. 

“It took me all morning! Now I’m sleepy,” she informed, yawning again and tucking her head into Sokka’s chest.

“You wanna have a nap?” He asked and she nodded, closing her eyes. 

As she did, Zuko went around to close the curtains and then returned to the bedside. He smoothed back the hair from her face and smiled softly up at Sokka. 

“I want to kiss you right now,” Sokka told him and Zuko rolled his eyes. 

“Fine,” he said and gently leaned over Izumi, careful not to jostle her, to deliver a kiss.

“Stay with us?” Sokka asked when he pulled back, and Zuko hesitated for a moment, before accepting and joining them on the bed. 

“You gonna go back to sleep?” Zuko said and Sokka nodded, already feeling it start to pull him under, closing his eyes.

“Ok,” he heard Zuko say, and a hand came up to stroke along the length of his cheek. Sokka leaned into it with the last of his consciousness, just catching the rest of his husband's sentence. “I’ll be right here,”

Sokka might have been outnumbered. But he knew, and so did Zuko, that he absolutely wouldn’t have had it any other way.

-

  
  


Sokka found that he actually didn’t mind getting old. There were certainly some perks; people treated him with more respect and kindness, and his word was always highly valued in any setting. He was always offered the first seat, or first drink, or first bite, and when he couldn’t think of things to say, people just assumed that it was because he had so much wisdom that it was difficult to sort through it all, and not that he was actually just distracted by the meat platter on the next table over. 

One thing he didn’t appreciate about getting old, however, was that he found it more and more difficult to sleep. 

He knew, logically, that older people tended to wake up earlier and go to sleep sooner, but he had never actually expected it to happen to him. He was only just pushing sixty, and already he found himself more often than not waking in the early hours of the morning, longing to be twenty again and able to snooze well past noon.

It was also a nuisance at night. No longer could he stay up past midnight, enthusiastically working on his latest plan or invention and then enjoy catching up on his sleep well into the next day. Sometimes Zuko would come looking for him only to find him asleep at his desk, and then, to a mixture of embarrassment and arousal on Sokka’s part, carry him to bed.

Zuko, the asshole, was just smug about the whole thing. When he got out of bed at his usual time, they would pretend that they both didn’t know Sokka was awake, and Zuko would put on a show of creeping delicately all over the room as if he were trying not to wake him, until Sokka cracked and laughed.

As much as it annoyed him, he had to admit there were one or two perks, such as it were. 

In the half an hour before the sun fully rose, when the sky was just a light grey with hints of pink, Sokka would sometimes slip out of bed, searching for the body that used to be on the warm sheets next to him.

More often than not, he would find his husband outside, on the balcony that looked over their private gardens. It was those moments that made it worth it. 

The moments when he could watch Zuko where he sat cross-legged in a meditative pose, the rise and fall of his back as he breathed. His long hair, still dark as night, save for a few grey strands, how the light seemed to paint his skin golden and reflected off his betrothal necklace, which he still wore every single day. 

Even after so many years - Sokka was still stupid in love. When he was younger, the spirits had seen fit to take a person he had loved from him. And he still didn’t have the best of relationships with them; but every day, even just for a second, he would find the time to thank them for giving him Zuko, and for letting him keep him.

It was while he was giving his daily thanks, that Zuko turned, a small smile on his face and held his hand out.

Sokka took it and let himself be pulled over, sitting next to his husband, threading their hands and resting their bare arms together.

“Look at you,” Zuko teased, kissing just below Sokka’s chin. “Out of bed at this hour? Did you miss me that much?”

Sokka brought their laced hands up to his face, delivering a kiss of his own to the inside of Zuko's wrist.

“So what if I did?”

“Nothing,” Zuko’s crow's feet crinkled as he smiled. “I missed you too,”

So yeah, Sokka married a morning person. But that was alright. He loved him anyway.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!
> 
> come say hello on [tumblr](https://jack-calico-rackham.tumblr.com/)


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